O.K. I met up with this kid who says he has a 1974 strat lawsuit guitar! I get it off him due to the fact the neck still has signs of a fender logo and the adjustment for the neck is at the bottom of the neck at the butt. The pick ups are straight no triangle shape at the bottom and have a metal plate across the bottom but not cheap and faded from age. but again everything on this pick guard is old school. Now the problem sets in it's a heavy guitar but the cut outs for the pick ups are the size of a soap bar and the wire cut out runs more to the side. no serial numbers to be found anywhere and the neck plate reads made in Japan but looks like someone replaced the plate. I have no clue

Not sure what a '74 "lawsuit" Strat is..


I thought Fender's from the '70's had the truss rod adjustment at the headstock, not at the butt of the neck.

I researched it last night and they show 70 backward as having them at the bottom!

You should post some pictures of the front and back of the headstock, the neck heel, the neck pocket of the body, the underside of the pick guard, and the body routing. Also, which is it, a '70 or a '74? (can't be both). A 74 would have the truss rod adjust at the headstock. I believe that the Japanese Fenders didn't have the neck plates stamped "Made in Japan" either.

I am with Midniterambler, what the heck is a "Lawsuit Strat"? This would indicate that some company copied the Strat and were sued by Fender, and it really sounds like a (poor) copy and not a Fender of any kind, but pictures can help identify it. I hope that you didn't pay much for it. Some people sure like to spin a yarn.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I will say this much he said 74, the neck says otherwise due to the adjustment. The body also has a hole so you can see the tremolo springs designed that way! Weird it's old regardless of it's maker!

well if its a "lawsuit strat" from the mid 70s it could have the Truss rod Adjustment in either place. Lawsuit strats refer to the Japanese Copies such as Greco, Tokai, Fernandes, etc that were made during the 70s to early 80s. Some of them were really great but they also made low end models that weren't as nice. We are really going to need some pictures. Odds are if it was sold to you as a "Lawsuit strat" nothing from it is Fender so you can't date it according to the Fenders of the period

Does the body look like this?


If so it is an Early Japanese Greco SE 400-500 Series guitar.

Can you post pics of the Cavity, bottom of the neck, and neck plate. So far the pickguard is definitely from a Japanese Lawsuit guitar, the neck could be from an actual 1970 Fender with Changed tuners and an added string tree, but its hard to tell without seeing the butt end of the neck

http://s1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb4 ... n_Chaplin/

I apologize trying to figure this photobucket out!

Looks like some species of mahogany to me. Could be wrong. It could be the explanation of the heavy weight.



Never seen a allen socket at the heel of a neck before.



Given 70's thick urethane finish, I wouldn't assume that the logo had worn off. Also


The guy pretty much said it's a fake guitar. Thats what the lawsuit (though there never was a lawsuit) guitars are. Japanese copies.
Nice looking guitar though mate. Those 70's Japanese guitars were fine pieces at the end of the decade. I see nothing on yours to say it is a 74. In fact all the usual tell tale signs of a fake strat are NOT there. It could be 80's or whatever though I suspect late 70's by the accuracy of the thing. The only unexplainable giveaway is the allen socket truss adjuster. And the scratchplate, which is a very easy swap.

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No no and no

http://s1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb4 ... n_Chaplin/

A Bit more now i have torn it down some more!

AlNiCo pickups and CTS pots. Not the usual low budget stuff found on Japanese guitars from the early 70's.



Now that speaks volumes. To sidestep the obvious. I don't think Fender ever cut that channel out between the neck pickup route and the neck pocket (allowing for easier truss adjustment).
The pickup routing isn't something I've seen on a Fender guitar before. The tremolo mechanism routing is also interesting. I've never seen that on a copy or a Fender before.

Just put the thing back together and play the bejabbers out of it. Looks a decent/quirky/unusual guitar to me.

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No no and no

Hell i threw it on ebay and let someone else have fun making a frankenstein !